Re: Oracle 9i and connect as sys

On 2003.08.17 23:39, Tim Gorman wrote:
> Babette,

>
> Just this Friday, I was wrapping up an installation engagement and one of
> the last things we did was change all the passwords. Standard practice.
> Immediately, one of the development managers comes boiling out of his office
> screaming "Who changed the passwords to SYS and SYSTEM?". I 'fessed up and
> asked him why he thought he needed it. He turned red and snarled that he
> just needed it and never you mind, turned on his heel and went in the CIO's
> office, then came boiling back with approval. We turned it over, and within
> 5 minutes I logged back onto the system and saw SQL*Plus running with the
> SYS/SYSTEM password visible to anyone and everyone who can run the UNIX "ps"
> command. I looked at the scripts he was running, noticed that all he wanted
> SYS/SYSTEM for was to create PUBLIC SYNONYMs. I left to catch my plane...

I have a myriad of similar war stories. The best reaction is to collect them and share with this email list. The company name should, of course, be kept confidential, but we all know the PHB type of manager. Of course, having a manager create public synonyms on your database is, in itslef, a recipy for disaster. Next time something goes wrong, they'll have to buy you a 1st class ticket to your plane. I don't imagine that having Tim Gorman himself install your database comes in cheap....

-- 
Mladen Gogala
Oracle DBA
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-- 
Author: Mladen Gogala
  INET: mgogala_at_adelphia.net

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